


A Newfound Way

by soleilstars



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-13 04:23:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17481098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soleilstars/pseuds/soleilstars
Summary: A group of teens find out about Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth before Clementine and AJ. They become attached to one another, along with a romance forming between two of them. Between dealing with walkers and relationships, things start to get complicated between the two groups forming together.





	1. Figuring It Out

The night had been long and cold for the five teens walking through the empty field. The leader of the group, Jay, was the only one with a working flashlight. She kept hitting it multiple times, as the batteries were quickly dying out. Her best friend Cassandra walked up behind her and patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, I think we need to take a break. We should start a fire once we reach those woods.” Pointing over to the edge of a forest, Jay sighed. “Alright. Let’s head over there.”

The group rushed over intro the brush, hoping to find somewhat of a clearing. Piper cut down the shrubs blocking their way in front of them. She had lead the group on for a bit, finally finding a resting place. “Okay, we’ll need two lookouts for the Slugs hiding around here somewhere.” Tyrone and James both raised their hands. “I think we can handle that.” 

She rolled her eyes and glared at them. “Fine, but if any shit happens to you, it ain’t our faults.” She walked around the area picking up sticks, as Cass and Jay picked up some small stones. Not accepting the silence, Cass decided to break it. “How long do you think it’ll be until we find another camp? It’s been a while since the last one.” Jay stood up and scratched the back of her head. “No clue. Let’s just hope it isn’t too far, or we could be out of food fast.” The other girl nodded, continuing with their task. 

Piper had come back quite quickly, handling bunches of sticks in her hands. She glanced around her, to see James whistling and playing around with the bracelet around his wrist. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, as she placed the sticks around in a circle. “Which one of you has the lighter again?” She asked, as Cass reached up to her, and handing it to her. Piper mumbled a thanks as she started flicking it to get the fire started. 

Once it was started and they had the warmth, James had come into the circle with Tyrone beside him. “Can we switch shifts? There’s nothing going on and it’s cold.” Cass rolled her eyes and stood up from her spot on the ground. Piper grunted as she got up and followed close behind. “You two owe us.” The guys just snickered and sat around the fire with Jay. She had kept looking at the bracelets on her wrist, reminding her of the past, and how it used to be.

She soon felt a cold hand on top of her head. “Don’t worry, I’m sure they still think about you.” James spoke quietly as he sat beside her, Tyrone on the other side. All she did was nod her head slowly, and stretch. “I’ve got the last shift, which is the longest one, so I’m just gonna… go to sleep. Night, guys.” Jay lay down with her back to the fire, drawing circles in the dirt with her finger. Cass glanced over her shoulder nervously, but went back to keeping guard. Not too soon after, Jay had fallen asleep.

“She must be having a tough time, huh?” Cass spoke to Tyrone as he gently braided her short, orange hair. “Yeah, I can’t imagine having to still deal with all of… that.” Piper glanced over to them as she stood watching around their small camp. “We’ve all been through shit, okay? None of you guys have had to lose your entire family right before your eyes, at the same time. She had it at the start. I don’t understand why it’s still bothering her.” She ranted, switching between a sorry sort of tone, to one with irritation. 

Cass furrowed her brows as she closed her eyes. “Give her a break, Piper. We get it, your little brother died maybe a few months or years ago. She just lost her last family connection a few days ago.” She crossed her arms and huffed. “Now, I’m going to sleep. Don’t die while I’m out.” Cass stayed silent as Piper had a frown of anger adorning her face. 

A few hours had passed, and Tyrone had shaken Jay awake gently. “Hey, it’s your turn for lookout.” She opened her eyes and saw the pink dawn sky, nodding her head slowly.The guy had gone to his small tree and leaned against it, as Jay got up and walked out a bit farther than where the others were keeping watch before her. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, and played with the jaw string on her old worn-out hoodie. She wasn’t paying much attention, but heard footsteps.

Jay quickly got her bow and arrow slung across her back, and got it ready. “Who’s there?” She whispered, trying to see if she could figure it out by the footsteps. She listened intently, but nothing. Jay had begun to retract her bow, when she had definitely seen someone’s foot sticking out just a tad too much. “Hey! You!” She spoke at a normal leveled voice, careful not to attract other things. 

Once she said that, she heard some shuffling and drew her bow once more. “Get out from there! Who are you?” She exclaimed, knowing by this point if it was a walker, it would’ve followed her voice. Jay saw two people slowly rise up from the bush they hid behind, and she narrowed her eyes. “Who the fuck are you?” She pointed to a guy with ugly, blond hair. He had drawn his bow as well, causing her to be more aware.

“We saw smoke. We don’t usually see smoke. Not from around here, anyways.” He spoke with a barely menacing voice. She squinted her eyes, looking at him and the guy beside him, a darker skinned boy with freckles and a… wooden leg? He must’ve noticed her confused face, as he handed his weapon to the blond one. She heard some whispering between the two, and watched as he began to trudge towards her with one step at a time.

“You, uh, look like you’re teens, right? You’re not just some super short adults?” Her face became even more confused, and her bow began going down. Jay caught herself quickly, and re positioned her bow. “What’s it to you, skyscraper? We’re just passing through.” She replied with a sort of snark to it. He laughed nervously, and put his hand up in front of his face. “Look, I wouldn’t want to lose these beautiful looks, so, uh, you guys should probably leave.”

The boy behind him had lowered his bow, narrowing his eyes at the group behind her. He could clearly tell they were all teens, and had an idea. “Hey, Louis, come here for a second. We need to talk. I might have a solution to this… problem.” Jay watched as Louis reluctantly backed up to go and talk to his friend. She heard whispering, and kept glancing back to the camp, and saw that Ty had his crowbar ready, behind a tree. She smirked, and turned back to the guys. Once turning back, the two of them had lowered their weapons completely. Jay began to question it, until the blond one spoke. 

“Hey, we’ve got a place not too far from here. We could take you and your friends over there, and we could talk about some serious matters.” She looked back to her group asleep, minus one, and then back to the guys, slipping her weapon behind her back. “Fine. But you better not fucking kill us, or it’ll backfire.” They widened their eyes and snickered. “Hey, don’t worry about that. We won’t, pinky promise.” Louis held out his pinky as Jay looked at it disgusted. “What are we, ten years old?” 

She shook her head as she turned around and headed back to wake everyone up, as Ty had leaned against the tree watching them, making sure they wouldn’t move. The two other girls woke up quickly, and James took his sweet time. Cass looked over at him and flicked his forehead. “Hey!” She shrugged her shoulders and turned around, looking straight at two strangers. “Woah! What the-” “Don’t worry, we’re following them back to their camp”

Cass looked at Jay with a ‘are you seriously considering this?’ look, and she smirked. “Okay guys, pack up your things, and try to stomp out what’s left of the fire. We’ve got places to be.” Piper quickly went up beside her as she watched Jay slowly pack up things. “Are you insane? I don’t even know how long you’ve known these people and you’re just going to follow them to their camp?” 

She sighed and stopped her actions to look at her. “Listen, I don’t know what we’re going to see, but considering their ages and… they way they look, probably don’t have much of a system going there. We’ll check it out, and see what they have to offer.” Jay took a pause, and rubbed her forehead. “Plus, we need the supplies. They probably have something useful for us there.”

Piper had a conflicted look on her face, but eventually nodded. “Okay, fine, you’re right. Just make sure no one gets hurt.” Jay nodded her head, turning around to face the two guys, carrying her small backpack in one hand. “Alright, I think we’re all ready. Get your weapons ready just in case anything pops up.” The group nodded, and they headed on their way.

Cass and Ty followed at the back of the group, gently holding hands. Piper was behind James, who was slightly beside Jay. “So, what’s the place of yours like? Got shelter? Food?” She held her small golf club in one hand, as the blond one lead the group. “Wow, lots of questions for someone who was just pointing an arrow at my head ten minutes ago.” She rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll be more formal then. What’s your name, your highness?” Her eyes were half lidded, as the leader became slightly aggravated. “It’s Marlon. You don’t have to be a dick about it, you know.”

The group was silent for the majority of the walk, not letting their eyes get tired or they could wind up dead. Cass wiped the sides of her knife on her pants, cleaning off the blood from past walkers. Jay shook her head angrily, looking up into the sky. “When the hell are we getting there? It was dawn not too long ago, and now the sun is nearing the high of the sky.” Marlon shook his head, looking at the trees they were passing. “We’re close. Watch your step, though. Could get hurt.”

The group looked at each other warily, as well as confused. They didn’t know where they were headed, but didn’t have the supplies to last on their own. They needed this more than they realized. Jay felt a tap on her shoulder as she looked up and saw brick walls, along with a gate. “What the fuck?” She mumbled to herself, looking beside her to see Louis smirking. “Oh, just wait, it gets better.”

Marlon had whistled, and the group saw a red-haired lady giving the thumbs up. She came down quickly, and once she opened the side gate, widened her eyes. “Marlon, who are these people? You shouldn’t just be bringing strangers into the camp.” He shook his head and looked back at them with one glance. “They’re our age, Ruby. And they were sleeping on dirt, plus, they look capable. Survived this long on their own, haven’t they?”

She grunted and moved out from int front of the gate to let the group walk in. Upon arrival, they all had looks on their faces as if they had seen the stairway to normal life. “Hey, you said you had a place, you never said you had a fortress!” Cass smiled happily, looking at their surroundings. She saw a small kid with a huge scar drawing, someone writing down in a book, a shorter guy preparing some sort of food, a blonde girl sitting in the corner of the courtyard, and two guys talking about god only knows what.

“Okay, what sort of trick are you guys gonna plan now, hm? Take our weapons? Steal our supplies, then toss us out? What is your deal?” Jay got close to Marlon, and narrowed her eyes at him. “I want answers. And they better be the right ones.”

Marlon huffed and glared at her. “Do you really want to test me right now? I could throw all of you right back out there. I’m giving you guys a chance, here.” The blonde girl from the corner of the courtyard had stomped over quickly. “Marlon, who the fuck are these people?” He looked at her and then rubbed his forehead while sighing. “This is Violet. Violet, these new people might be joining our group,” he turned his head towards Jay. “That is if they cooperate long enough.”

Violet rolled her eyes as she began walking towards the main building. “Well have fun with that, because I’m staying out of it.” She crossed her arms, shaking her head. Jay and Marlon watched her walk off, as she turned back to him. “I’ll be willing to stay. But if anything happens to anyone from my group-” She was cut off as Cass had gently put a hand on her shoulder. “Jay, I think you can calm down. Look around. They’re all kids or teens! Maybe this can finally be our place.”

The brunette looked over to her friend and sighed. “Okay. Alright, you’re right.” She readjusted the backpack straps a bit, and took a quick look over her shoulder. “What can we do to stay?” Marlon huffed and put a hand on his hip. “So you’re going to listen to me? Huh. Alright, well tonight you can get settled in, and then tomorrow you’ll do some work around here.” She nodded and looked at the school. 

“So, uh, where are we gonna stay, exactly? Looks like there are already lots of you. Doubt there’s much room” Jay spoke as she looked at the buildings. Marlon chuckled and started walking. “Here, I’ll show you your guys’ rooms. I think we have three left.” He headed towards the dorms, as the small group followed alongside. Louis tapped Jay’s shoulder as he was walking away from the group. “Once you’re settled in, come to the main building, I’ll be waiting at the piano!” He smiled and turned around.

Jay made a confused face, but kept following Marlon. James and Cass went to her sides and started snickering. “I think you’ll finally get your teen romance, Jay…” James spoke, as Cass playfully hit the back of his head. “Okay, yeah, you will, but some dipshit should talk quieter.” He chuckled and fell behind a bit more, trying to start up a conversation with Piper. 

They walked into a hall, and looked at the written graffiti on the walls. “Damn, you guys really went crazy on these walls.” Piper spoke from the back of the group, as James snickered at a few they passed by. Marlon scoffed, as he approached the rooms. “Don’t mind those, we were really young when it started.” Tyrone rubbed the side of his arm and nodded. “So were we.”

Marlon had opened a door, and then another, and another. “These will be the rooms. Guys can go in one since there’s only two of you, I’m assuming Jay will want a room to herself since she’s… been a handful already. The other two girls can go in the last room.” Jay nodded and walked into the room. “Thanks. Hey, uh, sorry for my bullshit earlier. Haven’t had it easy out there.”

“We haven’t had it easy in here, either. But I appreciate you apologizing. Now, you can get set up, and should probably go see Louis, since he seems like he wanted to talk to you.” She nodded as they watched him walk away. “Okay, you almost ruined our chances at a perfectly good place. Why the fuck would you do that?” Piper whispered to Jay, and she just rolled her eyes. “Calm the fuck down, I fixed it, didn’t I? We’ll be staying until shit goes down.” Her voice was full of venom, as she quickly started walking down the hall. “You guys should, uh, mingle I guess. Get to know the people here.” They nodded as she continued down, and out the doors. 

Jay poked one of the kids on the shoulder, a shorter boy who looked quite young. “Hey, uh, which way did Louis go? Where’s the piano?” The boy jumped up from his seat, and pointed to the main building. “He should be in there. I’m, uhm, Tenn, by the way. Nice to meet you.” She nodded slowly and held out her hand. “Jay.” She shook his hand gently, and then strolled over to the building. 

She opened the main door slowly, looking around. “Jesus Christ, how long have they been here?” She mumbled to herself as she wandered down one hall. At the end was a double door, with one door completely open. Inside she had seen Louis standing over top of the piano chords, and walked over to the seat. She didn’t go in, but he had seen her anyways. “Hey, why waiting around? Come check this out.” 

Cautiously, Jay went over to the piano he was at. “Ever play one? They’re quite fun.” He spoke playfully, playing keys to create a fun song. “Nope, not really the piano type. I was more interested by guitars as a kid.” He nodded his head, and hummed a song. She looked around the room, noticing the books lining the walls. “That’s… a lot of books. Cass is gonna love this room.” 

Louis stopped playing gently, and turned towards her. “Are you guys, like, together? She seems to calm you down a lot. Like, a LOT.” He emphasized the ending of his sentence, as she chuckled. “No, no. We’re best friends, have been since when I first moved to her town. Don’t think she even liked me as a kid, I was such a bitch.” He laughed, and patted down on the bench. Jay slowly walked over, as she crossed her arms. She sat down, as something someone had said earlier popped into her head. 

“God dammit, James.” She shook her head, as he looked at her confused. “You, uh, okay?” Jay nodded her head quickly, and stood up. “I should actually be getting back to my friends, see how they’re doing.” Louis smiled and stood up as well. “I’ll come with you, Violet’s bound to be somewhere around them, and she owes me a game of cards.” She tilted her head, but then shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.”

Cass, James, and Tyrone were talking with a ginger girl and a taller guy with brown hair, while Piper was standing beside a guy with a plaid jacket. “No way, you didn’t seriously do that, did you? Jesus.” Cass spoke to the brown headed guy, as he chuckled. Jay looked at them, and waved slightly to Louis as she went to them. “Hey, I was just checking in with you guys. Anything new going on?” Tyrone looked up at her and smiled. “Nothing except meeting these guys. This is Brody and Mitch, and apparently Mitch won’t stop talking about bombs.” He had shrugged, and smirked. “What can I say, it’s my passion.”

She shook her head while smiling, and walked over to Piper. “Hey, what’s up with you two? You look like you need an evening nap, Piper.” She rolled her eyes as she looked away. “Aasim was just talking to me about his, uh, journal thing.” He looked irritated at the way she described it, but Jay just shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.” She went and sat at one of the picnic benches, as she put her head down. 

“Tough day?” She lifted her head to see Violet, and put her head back down. “If you’re here to mock my leading styles, don’t bother. I’ve already got to deal with one annoyed friend.” Jay sighed heavily, as Violet shuffled her feet. “Damn, calm down. I was just going to say welcome to the group. We haven’t had new people. Ever.” She tilted her head to look up at Violet, getting a better look at her.

“Louis will be starting up a stupid card game, since I almost got hurt out there. Fuck, you better prepare yourself for this.” She walked over to two couches, to see him shuffling a deck of cards. Cass and Tyrone were already sitting down, right beside each other. James was finishing up his conversation, and Piper clearly didn’t want anything to do with the game. Sitting down beside Cass, she leaned back in the chair, pulling up her legs. 

“So I hear this is going to be annoying. Can you confirm or deny that statement?” Jay spoke with a nearly straight face, a slight tug at the corner of her mouth. Louis smirked, and leaned against the arm of the couch.”Well, it depends on if you’re Violet or not.” Violet furrowed her brows and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, everyone's here. Just start the game already.” He nodded, holding out the deck to everyone. 

“Game is war, just pick a card off of the top, and whoever gets the highest number gets to ask everyone a question.” The group nodded, and everyone had gotten a card. Tyrone had gotten the highest number, and he smiled. “If you could take a vacation anywhere, where would you go?” Cass smiled and crossed her arms. “I would go to Madagascar. It’s chill, but warm, and quieter than usual.” The group chuckled, as some people didn’t have a place. “I would go somewhere without walkers. Now THAT would be an amazing vacation.” Tyrone nodded, as everyone got a card again.

Violet had picked up the highest card, and smiled. “What’s the most depressing thing you’ve ever eaten?” Louis visibly gagged and sighed. “Cantaloupe.” James and Cass looked at him weird, as he raised his hands up. “Hey, you haven’t eaten it.” The twins looked at each other as James spoke. “Did you really just say we haven’t eaten a popular fruit?” Louis stayed silent, as the others shook their heads.

As the pile went on, Jay had picked up the winning ticket. “Alright, tricky one for you guys: what makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it?” “Louis’ voice.” Violet had spoken up immediately, as the group laughed. Louis pouted and crossed his arms. “Hey! My voice is amazing, thank you very much.” Jay snickered, and looked back to Piper. “Hey, you should join us for a few rounds. I’m sure you’d enjoy it.”

Piper looked at them and sighed. “Fine, only for one round. It’s getting late.” She had gotten the card, and thought for a bit. “When did something start out horrible but in the end was worth it?” Cass had raised her hand like she was in school again. “Hey, can I be cheesy for a second?” Everyone glanced at each other, and then one by one nodded. “Well, I think this apocalypse, really. I mean, if this didn’t start, we probably wouldn’t have ever met. You guys are fun, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Jay smiled gently, and patted her shoulder. “Alright, Shakespeare, let’s move on.” Louis picked up a card, and announced something as he did. “This will be the last round folks, as it is close to closing time. Ahem. What is a memory you regret the most?” The group went silent, as Jay decided to speak up. “Uh, well, when things started, I got in a fight with my mom. As she was dying, all I can remember was my anger at her. For leaving suddenly. And, uh, yeah.” There was a long pause before she stood up.

“Well, I know when I’ve made a room uncomfortable, so I’m going to my room. See you in the morning.” She rushed to her room, and closed the door gently. Cass and James looked at each other worriedly. “I think we’d better go look out for her, thanks for the game though! It was fun, and an easy way to get to know people. We’ll see you tomorrow!” Cass spoke, grabbing both Tyrone and James’ hands. Piper noticed everyone leaving quickly, and started to walk, as Violet grabbed her wrist.

“What the fuck is going on, why are all of you leaving together? You seem in a hurry.” Piper glared at her, and ripped her arm out of her grip. “She just gets lonely when she remembers shit like that. We’re just looking out for her.” She spoke, and followed the rest of them to the dorms.

Cass was the first to knock on Jay’s door and enter, smiling gently. “Hey, we’re here for you. We all have the bracelets, after all.” She smiled, and the other three walked in right after her. “Do you wanna talk, or…?” Jay shook her head, as she was pacing around the room. “I’m not actually thinking about that. I thought of what you said, earlier. About how you’re sort of glad this whole thing started.”

Piper relaxed her shoulders and swiveled around on her foot. “Okay, I’m guessing you’re fine then. I’m going to bed. Night.” She exited the room as the others stayed with her. On her way out she saw Louis and Violet down the hall, and she glared at them. “What?” Louis looked at Violet quickly and then shrugged. “If you guys want to talk to her, then go and talk to her.” They nodded and watched the rest of them leave her room, and knocked. “Hey, uh, it’s Louis and Vi. Y’know, the ones who brought up clearly bad memories at the wrong time. We were wondering if-” “HE was wondering!” “Okay, no need to announce it to the whole world, Vi.”

He pushed open the door to see her with a notepad in hand, crossing off something. “What’s that?” Jay looked up and shrugged softly. “I keep track of the days that have passed by. Since the day I had to leave home. I had to make sure I wouldn’t miss any of their or my birthdays.” The two nodded, as Violet leaned against the door frame, with Louis standing there awkwardly. “Uh, anyways, we were going to go check out our traps that we use to absolutely obliterate walkers. They need some help mending.” 

She looked up and put her notepad in her jacket. “So you’re asking me, the new girl who flipped out at the leader, to help fix traps?” He thought for a second, and nodded his head. “Hm, yeah, yeah I’m pretty sure that’s what I said. Unless you don’t speak the English language, then I would be happy to translate.” She rolled her eyes and stood up. “I guess I can help with that. Better not be a trap for me.” Jay furrowed her brows, as she walked towards them. 

“Okay, I think that’s enough talking for one night. I’ve gotta sleep.” She started doing a ‘shooing’ motion towards them, and Violet quickly got out of there. Once Louis had left the room, she leaned out from her room down to the hall. “Just wake me up when it’s time, I sleep a shit ton.” Louis snickered and nodded. “Okay, see you tomorrow.”


	2. Nowhere Else

Shufflin around in her room, Jay had turned over and noticed someone’s figure looming over her. The person had tapped her on the forehead, and she slowly opened her eyes. “What?” She mumbled as she rolled over to the other side of the bed. “I would say you should sleep some more, but it’s already a bit past from when we were supposed to leave.” Jay sat up and turned towards who was talking, and to no surprise, it was Louis.

He stood there with a small smile, arms crossed over his chest. She had stared at him, and sat at the edge of the bed. “I feel like this is far too early to be doing this.” Her hair was a bit messier, but not too bad. Jay’s face looked all too clearly like death. “Gee, guess waking up isn’t your strong suit.” She rolled her eyes and got up, picking her bow off of the floor. “Oh please, you never know when you’re going to be able to sleep next, so you might as well sleep when you can.”

Louis nodded his head slowly, and headed towards the door. “Alright, well, everyone’s out in the courtyard. Do you want me to wait for you, or can you find your way there?” Jay shrugged her shoulders, and picked up a few things around her bed. He opened the door for her and bowed slightly. “M’lady, after you.” She had a face of being completely done with him, but her small smile said otherwise.

Jay walked out and then turned around for him to follow her as he shut the door. He started to lead, as she stopped in front of the other two rooms. “I’m guessing they’re all already out there?” Louis nodded and tilted his head towards the door. She followed after him, and saw Cass standing outside, swaying hands with Tyrone. Jay nudged Cass with her elbow as she walked by, and waved a bit. Tyrone and Cass smiled at her, as they continued on with their conversation.

Louis had spotted Violet standing near the gate, tapping her toe on the ground. She whipped her head towards him and furrowed her brows. “You’re late, Louis. We were supposed to fix the stupid traps an hour ago.” He scratched the back of his head nervously, and turned away. “Oh well, nothing bad would’ve happened to them in the past hour.” She rolled her eyes, and leaned against the wall. “Well if there’s anything you need to do, better do it now.”

Jay nodded her head, and turned around to go to the picnic tables. She saw Ruby and James talking,and headed over there. “Hey, good morning to you, Jay! How was your sleep last night in the new bed? Sorry if it wasn’t too comfy.” Ruby said, as her and the boy turned towards her. “It was decent, better than the dirt we’ve had for the past few nights.”

“Can’t deny that. Beds are better than nothing.” James nodded, and leaned against the picnic table, sitting outwards. “Man, when we got here and I saw beds? I was flipping my shit! First time in, what, maybe six months that we’ve been on an actual bed? And it was so worth it.” Jay smiled and nodded, as she crossed her arms. “James here has been telling me that you’ve been the leader since almost the start. What about adults? Didn’t y’all have any helping you?”

She took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, yeah. But at the same time, no. We just had some older siblings helping us out. My older brother was one of them. Along with Tyrone’s sister, and we barely scraped by in life with that. They died not too far into the apocalypse, but long enough for us to find a small camp that was hard to find. Then… we lost another member. Piper’s cousin was the new ‘leader, but she soon ran off, not wanting to deal with five ten year olds and a thirteen year old.” 

Ruby wore a frown on her face, and looked down. “Jay… I’m so sorry. You too, James. Y'all have lost so much, and most of it seemed to be family. Everyone here doesn’t know what happened to parents or siblings, but… that may be the better of the two.” James sighed while nodding, and slowly stood up. “We’ve started to try and get over them, but… I guess sometimes it’s just not easy to let go of loved ones. But, hey, that’s why our group sticks together. We stay together as a family, and it works for us.”

Jay looked down, while quickly gaining composure. “Uhm, anyways, James, I wanted to ask if you wanted to help me, Louis, and Violet fix traps. I figured since we’re staying here, it wouldn’t be much help if it was only me from our group.” He looked at her and smiled. “Yeah sure! I wouldn’t mind, I feel like I need some fresh air too.” Ruby and Jay paused and looked at him. “James. We are literally outside.” Jay rubbed her forehead, and grabbed his wrist. “Whatever, let’s just go.”

The two walked up to Louis and Violet, and Violet turned to them. “You guys ready?” James and Jay nodded, and the group of four walked out of the gate. Once a bit further, Violet pointed to a few trees with red ribbons on them. “These mean there’s a trap nearby. We need to check the ones that were used, and get rid of the walkers that were either killed or somehow still alive, but stuck.” James had given a thumbs up, and Jay nodded her head.

The boys had gone to the left to check traps, while the girls went to the right. Violet went to a tree with a rope attached, and moved it around a bit to test if it was staying strong. “Just check these ones like this. If they’re on the ground, call for me and I’ll come check it out.” Jay nodded and went her own way, looking for the trees with ribbons. She saw multiple, going up to each one separately and tugging a bit on the ropes. She traveled between lots of trees, and eventually found a walker trapped between a log and a tree.

“Violet, I’ve got one.” She stood watching it, wiggling around, trying to grasp at her. Violet walked up behind, and stared at it. “Damn. These log ones are a bitch to clean up. Help me drag the walker.” Violet killed it with her cleaver, and pulled it from behind the log. Jay grabbed one arm of it, and Violet grabbed the other. They tossed it off to the side, and dusted their hands off. “I’ll never get used to touching them. Eugh.” Jay nodded, and stood there awkwardly. “So how do we fix these types of traps?” 

“It’s kind of simple, I guess. Usually needs only one person to get the job done, and we reuse the rope since we’re running low on it.” Jay nodded, and looked up at it. “How do you do that, then?” Violet walked over to the cut rope, pulled on it hard, and tied it together to the rope still attached to the peg in the ground. “Like that. And see, retying the rope isn’t much of a hassle, I guess. It does get heavy, though.” She nodded to her answer, and looked over at Louis and James.

Violet looked at her and tapped her shoulder. “Hey, we need to check the rest of these. Just try to keep focus for a bit longer.” Jay sighed and nodded, continuing on down through the trees. Fixing traps and killing the few surviving walkers, left her to think for a bit. Her group would either be kicked out or accepted into the school in the next few days, but that also means that gives her less space for error. She needed to keep her group together. Her best friends were all she had left. “What would I even do if they were all gone…”

The blonde turned her head to look at Jay with a tilted head. “What was that?” She looked up and shook her head. “Nothing. I think we’re finished with these traps, right? Does that mean we head in, or should we wait for those two dorks?” Violet looked over at them snickering at a walker, and shook her head. “We can go in. They won’t be in for a bit, I’m assuming. They’re playing with a fucking walker.”

Jay nodded as they started walking to the gate. She played with the hem of her sweater, glancing over at the boys. “How do you guys deal with having him in your group? We can barely handle James, and then when him and Tyrone are together, it gets worse.” Violet rolled her eyes while a small smile was on her face. “I wish I knew. Louis can be a dumb shit, but… he can really lighten the mood around here. It, uh, helped, when we lost people.”

She hummed in response, and continued their walk. Violet opened the gate, and let Jay go in first. Once they were both in, Violet quickly walked over to Tenn. Marlon noticed they came in, and approached Jay. “Hey, how was first day of fixing traps? Not as bad as it seemed, right? It gets better with time, and a faster job.” She nodded, as her and Marlon went to sit on the steps. “Would you mind if I asked you a few questions about how you guys ended up here?” 

She looked at him with wide eyes for a second, and then looked down. “Fine, I guess, But if anything gets too personal, I’m going to the dorms.” He nodded his head, and crossed his arms. “So, how exactly did you guys wind up in the woods without being hurt? I would have thought that there were some other groups out there.” Jay shrugged, and looked up at the clouds passing by. “We’ve gotten used to hiding, plus we hadn’t run into any other groups for weeks before.” Marlon looked shocked by the answer, but nodded along. 

“What about James and Cass? They look alike, so I was wondering if they were twins.” She nodded, and looked over at Cass talking happily with Violet and Tenn. “They’ve been the sweetest, even to Piper, who can be a bitch sometimes. But having Cass as a best friend helps me, she never lets me get over the top.” He looked at her, and then saw the two guys stroll in through the gate. “Looks like my best friend is back. I’m gonna go see him. Thanks again for helping out with the traps.” Jay nodded, and leaned against the steps. “No problem. Wouldn’t mind doing stuff like that more.” He smiled, and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter, I didn't have much else to write for the scene. I'll try and get the new chapter out sooner, and hopefully longer as well!

**Author's Note:**

> aaah this type of idea has been on my mind since forever, and using old ocs actually helps flesh out the idea! thank you so much for reading, and I hope you stick around for the rest to come!


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